In Houston, we recently read about the tens of thousands of unworked cases, mainly property crimes, and some claim it's Houston Police Department mismanagement. If it is, that is on Mayor Parker who has had over 4 years to get it right and has been distracted by her own agenda, most recently her anti-discrimination (for gays) ordinance.

An objective look at HPD also tells us it is understaffed and its police force is shrinking. One suggestion is to prioritize public safety and invest additional funds in ideas such as 1,000 new police patrolmen so our underpatrolled city can move up to being close to national standards and will increase public safety.

Why Are American Taxpayers Funding Terrorists?

Hamas, named as a global terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department and most democracies, has joined a so-called Palestinian "unity" government.

The Obama administration has said it will continue to payout foreign aid of over $400 million per year, and that is despite Congressional limits on such aid (none if Hamas is part of the government) because the technocratic ministers from Gaza (all approved by terrorist Hamas) are not allegedly in Hamas.

Of course, this is another crazy reason why our allies don't trust the Obama administration, and with their track record, why bother?

U.S. Trades 5 Taliban Terrorist Leaders For Bergdahl: A Good Deal For America?

No, it wasn't. If you assume like I do that President Obama is a smart guy, you have to wonder, what were they thinking?

Obama bypasses the law on consultation with Congress, claims it was critical to get Bergdahl released now when he was held in Pakistan with no evidence of any efforts to release him without releasing dangerous terrorist leaders, and this leaves out the question of whether Bergdahl was a deserter.

This scandal is not going away, look for the next shoe to drop, millions in cash was also paid to the captors.

This is not a deal a prudent leader makes in the middle of a war. The President has put at risk U.S. troops, U.S. officials and U.S. citizens who are now potential kidnap victims to be traded for hardened terrorists and/or cash.

Two more thoughts. First, how many times will Obama send out poor Susan Rice to tell tall tales and then take the resulting media attacks of not being truthful? Second, after claiming a victory lap a week ago the Obama administration now is saying it was Secretary of Defense Hagel's idea. Yeah.

Dan Patrick Attacked Again By Democrats But Position On Immigration Reasoned And Correct

At TCR, we don't know what speech the Democrats think Dan Patrick, the GOP candidate for Lieutenant Governor gave, it certainly wasn't the one they criticized.

Let's see what Dan says, "We're not against immigration, we are against illegal immigration" and he thinks like most thinking Texans do, that it's important to control our border. The Democrats demagogue this issue, and claim that to be for border control is the same immigration policy as being anti-Hispanic. Any awake American knows that is not true.

The most recent proof of an illegal immigration crisis is the surging numbers of illegal minors in U.S. holding pens. This was caused by Obama policy comments, which in Central America have been interpreted to mean that if you get into America, you get amnesty, free health care, free education, free housing, etc. More than 33,000 have been picked up in Texas since October, and today Obama asked for an extra $1.9 billion to house, feed and reunite the total of 47,000 children apprehended on the southern border.

Maybe the major media and the Democrats owe Dan an apology. He was right, and this issue is important for Texas. The Democrat open border advocates are wrong, and the voters know it.

Book Review: Latest from Steve Forbes

While politicians and pundits squabble over the roles over-taxation and over-regulation play in preventing economic recovery, the biggest culprit for U.S. sluggishness flies under the radar, relatively free from scrutiny and at times even earning praise from the media and "progressive" politicians.

I'm talking, of course, about the Federal Reserve. The Fed is one of the main reasons we're experiencing the weakest recovery ever following a major downturn, but the central bank has for the most part escaped scorn. Until now.

In his new book, MONEY: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy - and What We Can Do About It, Steve Forbes takes the Fed to task over its undeniable role in weakening the U.S. dollar and hampering our economic recovery.

In this book, Steve Forbes lays out the case in understandable terms, exposing the Fed's manipulation of the dollar and laying out clear solutions to strengthen the dollar - permanently - and put America on a stable path to sustainable prosperity. This is a book you need to read and understand as nothing less than the America we know and love is threatened by economic disaster. Available now at Amazon.

Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his fifteenth year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last thirteen years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. As a public service for the last 11 years, Gary has published election guides for the GOP primary, general elections and city elections, all with the purpose of assisting conservative candidates. Gary is also in his 13th year of co-hosting Red, White and Blue on PBS Houston, longest running political talk show in Texas history. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.